EPA . . . TAKING PESTICIDES OFF THE MENU

For years, there have been at least 85 cancer-causing pesticides in processed foods on supermarket shelves -- such as raisins, cooking oil, tomato paste and flour -- but the federal government is only now getting serious about a crackdown. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today agreed to review and possibly ban 36 pesticides within two years, then set its sights on 49 more as part of an out-of-court settlement with consumer advocates, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The losers in the deal, the American Crop Protection Association, accused the NRDC of trying to ''create a national food scare.''